A Poultney mother has been charged with causing serious injuries to her 11-month-old daughter.

Sandra L. Eastman, 30, pleaded innocent in Rutland criminal court Monday to a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to a child. She was released on conditions that included she stay away from her daughter who is in the custody of the state Department for Children and Families.

Rutland Police Detective Raymond LaMoria wrote in an affidavit that police began investigating Eastman after she took her baby to the emergency room at Rutland Regional Medical Center in February.

An x-ray at the hospital showed that the baby had a recently fractured bone in one leg and an older break in the other.

When asked about the injuries, Eastman allegedly told police she accidentally dropped her child while placing her in a crib. She also told police that she had grabbed the baby’s leg to pull her back from the top of a staircase days before her trip to the hospital.

But doctors in Rutland along with a consultation from a Fletcher Allen Health Care doctor who specializes in pediatric abuse and neglect told police that the baby’s injuries didn’t match either Eastman’s timeline of events or the nature of the wounds.

In regard to the more recent fracture, the doctors concluded “This fracture would require a significant amount of force. This is not a simple toddler fracture, which can occur from relatively minimal force.”